Copyright Issues

I know copyright is a complicated law in itself, but does anyone know the general rules involved and how they apply to Second Life. It seems to be possible to create a building or an object that has striking similarities to ones already made. For example, a square building with floors and a roof, sharing identical textures and sizes to someone else's creation.

Surely, the law must make some distinction on simple builds and more complicated designs? Are we protected against people making designs that resemble our own? How close does it have to be? Surely there are some designs that aren't possible to copyright?

Is there any history of copyright court cases involving Second Life creations?

There's no difference between how copyright law applies in SL and out of SL.

I think it's the US version of copyright law that applies, though I'm not sure about that one.

As far as the distinction between simple builds and complex builds goes, who knows? In the real world, John Cage successfully sued Mike Batt for creating a track that was purely silent, even though that's something anyone could do... However Batt -had- credited Cage as a co-composer of 'A One Minute Silence', in reference to Cage's '4'33"'.

Might be worth having a quick look at this article:

http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1170237755271

Copywrite within Sl ... is a difficult area ...

What you are ACTUALLY saying is intellectual property.

If you do a square box using public domain textures you wont stand a chance....

BUT

If you create something from a texture you uploaded i.e of a building or material ... then in reality YOU are breaking the copywrite as you dont own the original item to which you used as a texture.

So where does this leave us....

Vague i know....

SL is just ONE BIG IP nightmare.... however i personally create my own textures from scratch and I try to use public textures in new ways. So ... as i always say ... try to be comfortable with what you do ... but dont be suprised if somebody thinks the same using standard tools and resources

Mart :L

I have pasted a copy of the LL Policies note card available at in-world kiosks around the grid. Hope this helps.

TRADEMARKS AND COPYRIGHT IN SL
In Second Life, we hope creators will use their imagination to make content. Some create things that are inspired by real life objects, like cars or jewelry. As Second Life gets larger, we receive more questions about usage of copyrighted or trademarked material in Second Life.

You should not use copyrighted or trademarked material in Second Life, unless of course you have a right to use the intellectual property. Your rights are defined by applicable copyright and trademark law, including the law of fair use. These are complicated laws, and understanding our Terms of Use (http://secondlife.com/corporate/tos.php) and DMCA information (http://secondlife.com/corporate/dmca.php) is only a very small start to understanding applicable laws. Real world laws apply to intellectual property infringement, and nothing about your use of Second Life will shield you if you are infringing on someone else’s intellectual property – the rightful owner of the IP can take direct legal action against you in real world courts of law. The following describes more detail about how Linden staff treat trademark and copyright issues in-world.

TRADEMARKED MATERIAL
Linden staff generally removes content that uses trademarks without apparent authorization, with or without giving notice to the object owner. This generally includes all RL corporate logos and brand names.

It is often difficult to tell what may or may not be trademarked. However, use of designer logos and brand names without permission, such as Gucci, Nike, Louis Vuiton, etc., are usually not acceptable. Any resident may file an abuse report if they see any other resident making unauthorized use of trademarked material in SL.

For more information, visit the US Patent & Trademark Homepage: http://www.uspto.gov/index.html

You can also use the trademark look-up feature on that website: Use the Search tool under Trademarks on the left navigation when you go to US Patent & Trademark Homepage. - Use the "New User Form Search (Basic)" - Under View Search History, select "Plural & Singular " & "Live" radio buttons - Enter the name of the business in question (ie. Nike) - Press "Submit Query."

COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL
Linden Lab follows the procedures described in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) regarding copyrighted materials. This generally means that Lindens will not remove copyrighted material unless the owner of the copyrighted material notifies Linden Lab in accordance with the DMCA process noted on our website, at http://secondlife.com/corporate/dmca.php.

If a DMCA notice is filed, and it meets the standard for a complete claim, Linden Lab will then expeditiously remove the indicated materials in-world. Note that the item must appear in-world for Linden Lab to take any action.

Repeated copyright or trademark violations by a resident can result in their account being placed on probation or permanently banned.

Again, this is just a very brief description of laws pertaining to intellectual property. Residents interested in this topic are encouraged to more fully examine the materials available at: http://www.copyright.gov/ http://www.uspto.gov/main/trademarks.htm http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/index.php/Copyright http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/index.php/Trademark http://fairuse.stanford.edu/

Bottom line: we prefer that our residents be as original as possible when creating their content, and we ask that all of our residents respect the intellectual property rights of others.

That notecard really seems to deal entirely with copyright and trademark issue as regards real world property. With regard to in world, user created content, and its associated Intellectual Property rights, essentially the same rules apply.

No, if you build a 10x10 box, slap a roof on it, and texture it with publicly available textures, and it happens to look just like somone else's "box", they are going to have a difficult time with a copyright claim. It's a box, which is a "familiar design" as far as copyright law is concerned.

If I were to take one of Porky Gorky's or Jack Feaver's houses, copy it prim by prim, texture by texture, and maybe even just ever so slightly modify something, either of them would have a valid claim of copyright violation, and they would be within their rights to go through the DMCA process and demand that my copy be removed. I could file a counter claim if I wanted to, or believed my design was far enough removed from their original design as to warrant such a claim - and that's where it gets sticky, and EXPENSIVE.

The DMCA process itself is not a mechanism for adjudicating claims, it is simply the "messenger" mechanism which enables the complainant to notify a service provider of a violation. The provider's only obligation is to remove the offending content from their systems. If there is to be a legal engagement between the parties, it takes place in real courts, using real, expensive lawyers. Am I going to go to that extreme for a house made of pixels that's worth $4 US? Probably not.